Ghazouani takes constitutional oath as President of Mauritania for a second term

Nouakchott – Mauritanian President-elect Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani took the constitutional oath yesterday, Thursday, for a second five-year term.

During the inauguration ceremony, the President of the Constitutional Council, Jallow Mamadou Bathia, announced that Ould Ghazouani would assume the presidency of the country for a second term.

According to the Anadolu Agency correspondent, the ceremony was attended by a number of African heads of state, in addition to the prime ministers of Morocco and Algeria, and a delegation from several Arab, European and African countries.

Ghazouani won the presidential elections held on June 29 with 56 percent of the votes.

Ghazouani is the tenth president of Mauritania since its independence from France in 1960.

Ghazouani was born in the city of Boumdeid (central) in January 1956. In August 2005, he participated in a military coup that overthrew then-President Maaouya Ould Taya, and became a member of the military council that led the transitional phase.

On August 6, 2008, he participated alongside former President Mohamed Ould Aziz in a second military coup that overthrew Mauritania’s first democratically elected civilian president, Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.

In 2012, Ghazouani was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, and the following year he took over as commander of the army’s general staff.

In October 2018, he became Minister of Defense, before leaving the government formation after about 4 months.

Ghazouani was elected President of Mauritania in 2019, receiving 52 percent of the votes, and was re-elected on June 29 for a second presidential term.

Anatolia